


Peaches and Plums, Motherfucker

by Theamazingannie



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: M/M, fixing that yucky finale, i just miss them, little bit of penny40/kady but not enough to warrant a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-24 06:13:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18565579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theamazingannie/pseuds/Theamazingannie
Summary: Quentin's story is far from over; he's still got a hot, recently exorcized ex-farmer waiting for him on the other side.





	1. Where You Belong

**Author's Note:**

> I've got finals to study for, but that finale (and those last three episodes) were total bullshit, and I'm trying to do something to fill this hole in my heart, so here is my take on how the finale should have gone. I'm basing most of the beginning off of what I remember from the last episode, cuz I don't want to have to watch that again just for this. Sorry for the unoriginal story title; it's too good of a line to pass up. Hope you enjoy!

"Welcome, Quentin," Penny told him as he stepped out of the elevator. The look on his face was kind and patient, not anything like the Penny he remembered. The Underworld sure had changed him. "Follow me."

"Am I-I'm dead, right?" Quentin asked, moving to follow him.

Penny sighed. "You are. I was really hoping to not see you for a long time."

"Well I-sorry."

"No need to apologize. Shit happens." He paused in front of a door, opening it and gesturing for Quentin to go inside. He closed the door behind them and sat on a gray chair in the middle of the room. Quentin slowly lowered himself onto the sofa next to it.

"What now?" Quentin asked him.

Penny clasped his hands in front of him, leaning forward. "Now, we talk. Or, you talk."

"About what?" Quentin asked with a nervous laugh.

"Quentin, you've done the whole therapy thing. Talk about the things that are weighing on you. This is how we help you move on. As soon as you're ready, you'll receive your Metro card. It will take you where you need to go." Quentin played with his hands, trying to figure out where to start. Penny sighed, sounding impatient. That was more like him. "How about we start by going over what you were thinking when you repaired the portal."

"Well I-I couldn't let Garrett get ahold of that much power. I didn't believe what he said, about wanting to use the power to do good. Maybe we could have stopped him, but I'm tired of-of fixing problems that we caused. I wanted to prevent it for once.”

“Even if that meant you dying?”

“Well I-I-I-I had to. We couldn’t risk Garrett getting all that power, and the-the amount of destruction he could have caused and-“ He paused, looking down and sighing. “And I thought that my life was an okay price to pay in order to stop that.”

“And why did you think that?”

“Because...because...I’m nothing special. Everyone will be fine without me.”

“Are you absolutely sure about that?”

Quentin looked back up at him. “Aren’t you supposed to be making me feel better about being dead?”

Penny’s lips turned up into a small smile. “No. I’m supposed to help you get to where you’re supposed to be.” He stood up suddenly, offering his hand down to Quentin. “How about we take a short field trip?”

When Quentin grabbed his hand and stood up, the room changed. He was now in the library at Brakebills. A blonde figure was hunched over a table filled with a huge scattering of books, writing furiously in a notebook.

“Alice,” Quentin whispered, his voice hoarse. It had been only minutes since he had last seen her, screaming at him and fighting against Penny23. He knew that time passed differently in the Library. It appeared to have been days since the Mirror World for her. As he stepped closer, he realized that all of the books had to do with death and the Underworld. Some of them were the same as the ones he had looked through when he had been trying to find Julia’s shade. “She’s trying to bring me back,” he said in shock.

“When have you ever known Alice Quinn to just give up?”

“I just-I don’t-“

Penny pressed his hand against Quentin’s back and they were transported to Marina’s loft. Julia lay curled up on the couch in Penny23’s arms, sobbing.

"Jules," Quentin called. He knew she couldn't hear him, but there was something so disheartening about seeing Julia in so much pain. She had already gone through so much in her life, in just the last couple years. She didn't need anything else hurting her.

“I just can’t believe he’s really gone. I mean, he’s been my best friend for forever. He's done so much for me, for us. He's always been there. And now he's just...not." She sat up suddenly. "There has to be something we can do."

"Julia, you should rest," Penny23 told her. "You're still recovering from the Monster's sister."

"I'm fine," she said, shaking off his hand. "But Q isn't. Maybe there's something I can do, something with my god abilities."

"You're not a god anymore, Julia."

"Maybe, but maybe there's still something left. I mean, I technically didn't make the choice, so maybe there's still a way to get it back. I could find another god. I know Our Lady is gone, but maybe there is someone else who can help. I can-"

The scene changed to the infirmary at Brakebills. Eliot was laying on a hospital bed, hooked up to a machine. Margo sat in a chair next to him, gripping his hand.

Quentin felt tears well up in his eyes at the sight of him, unconscious, but alive and monsterless. Everything he had worked so hard to accomplish had worked. Eliot was going to be okay. And yet, the whole in Quentin's heart was still there. He didn't feel any more ready to go to his place in the Underworld then when he had first died. Instead, he was now seeing the reason why he hadn't gotten there sooner.

He saw that Margo was speaking to Eliot in a low voice, so he walked closer to hear what she was saying.

"So then I said to the fucker, 'Welcome to the New Desert Order. It's gonna suck for you.'" She smiled, and Quentin rolled his eyes. She really did love telling that story. Her smile faded as she looked at Eliot's pale face. "I really wish you would wake up, El."

Eliot's eyes fluttered open weakly. He looked up at her and smiled. "Ask and you shall receive, Bambi," he told her, brushing the hand that was still clasped in hers down her cheek.

"El," she whispered happily. A tear slipped down her cheek and he brushed it away.

"None of that nonsense. You're too pretty for crying." Her smile returned. His eyes glanced around the room. "Where is everybody? Where's Q?"

The smile stayed on her face, but it became forced. "Everyone was sick of waiting around for you to decide to be conscious again. You certainly took your time, Sleeping Beauty."

"What about Q?"

Margo brought his hand up to her mouth to kiss it softly. "El..."

"What aren't you telling me, Margo? Where's Q? He wouldn't just leave me here. He worked so hard to get me back. I'm back now so where. Is. Q?"

Margo hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "He was in the mirror world, dropping those asshole monsters down into this portal, so they couldn't hurt us anymore. That Librarian douche shattered the portal, so Q...fixed it. With magic."

"But you can't do magic in the Mirror World."

"I know, El. He knew that, too. But he did it anyway. He fixed the portal, and got rid of the monsters, and..."

Eliot's face was a stone, but Quentin could see he was holding back a massive pool of emotions. "And what?"

"He's gone, El. Q's gone."

Eliot's lip trembled and he shook his head furiously. "No. I refuse to accept that. This is just some twisted joke, right, Margo? You're lying, right?"

"I'm so sorry, El." She rubbed her thumb against the back of the hand she held, but he pulled it away from her.

He turned his head toward the windows on the other side of the infirmary, taking deep breaths, trying to stop the crying, but when he turned back to face Margo, his face was red and wet. "All I could think about while I was in there was finding a way to get back to him. I had to fight through all my most traumatic memories, including Logan Kinear, to realize that I was wrong. We could make it work. We've done it before. Fifty goddamn years, and we made it work. Peaches and plums, motherfucker. I'm not giving up on you."

The scene changed one last time. Quentin and Penny were once again standing in the room in the Library. Quentin's legs felt shaky, and he dropped down onto the sofa, tears streaming down his face. He couldn't get the image of a crying Eliot out of his mind. It was the worst thing he'd ever seen, and he never wanted that to happen again.

"What the hell was that about?" Quentin snapped at Penny. "What, you wanted to show me how much all my friends are suffering before you send me off to the Underworld?"

Penny put his head in his hands and groaned. "God, I forgot how fucking dense you are, Coldwater. My job isn't to make your bitch ass feel any better. I already fucking told you that. I'm supposed to help you get to where you need to go." After Quentin responded with a blank, confused stare, Penny groaned once again. "Where do you feel like you need to go?"

"I-I don't know," he said, looking around the drab room. "I can't leave my friends like this. I don't want to be dead yet. I want to go back." He realized, finally, what Penny had been trying to tell him this entire time. "I need to go back. That's where I belong."

"Yes!" Penny shouted. "Finally! You idiot!"

"You don't have to be so harsh. Jeez. Besides, how on Earth am I gonna get back? Isn't that kind of a no-no?"

"Well, Hades wasn't too happy about the Monsters killing his wife, and considering you're the one who died to send them away, he's kinda cool about giving you this one favor." He pulled what looked like a normal, New York Metro card out of his pocket and held it out to Quentin. "But only one. So I better not see you back here for a long, long time."

Quentin took the card, staring down at it in shock. Was this really happening? Was he really allowed to go back? "Thanks, Penny."

"No problem man. Just...could you do me a small favor when you get back?"

"Sure. Anything."

Penny scratched his head, looking almost sheepish. "Could you tell Kady that I miss her? And that I'm proud of all that she's accomplished. And that she doesn't need me, or any man, to be whole. And that she is going to find someone some day that's gonna love her just as much as I do. And that-"

"I get it," Quentin told him.

Penny nodded, adjusting his suit jacket."Well...good. Enjoy the land of the living, Coldwater."

Quentin nodded back, and opened the door to wait for his ride.


	2. You Deserve To Be Happy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quentin is back from the dead and reunites with his friends.

Quentin stepped through the portal that appeared before him and entered into the living room of Marina's loft. It hadn't been very long since the last time he had been here. It had just been a matter of hours. However, things had certainly changed in the time he was gone. For one, Julia had moved all the furniture to the side and was currently standing in the middle of a giant summoning circle. She was moving her fingers in quick, precise movement and her mouth was moving, muttering the workings of a spell. Quentin wasn't sure if he should interrupt her or not, but the need for a decision disappeared when Penny23 walked in.

"Coldwater?" he asked, clearly in shock. He dropped the glass of water he was holding and it shattered against the wood floor.

The sound startled Julia and she stopped her spell abruptly, her eyes flying open to look first at Penny23, then towards where Quentin was standing. She stared at him, her mouth wide open. "Q?" she finally said. "Is that really you?"

"It's me," Quentin replied. He hadn't really given much thought as to how his friends would react to him being back. Looking at Julia, he realized this was a bigger deal than he realized. He smiled at her, waving awkwardly. "Hey, Jules."

Julia stared at him for a few more moments, seemingly frozen in shock, before storming over to him and hitting him hard on the arm. "What the hell, Q?"

"Ouch!" he exclaimed, staring at her in surprise. This was not the welcome back he had been expecting. At least he could be sure that this was really happening and he wasn't just imagining it.

Julia punched him again. "What the fuck were you thinking? Going off and killing yourself like that? Do you have any idea how much pain I've been in because of you? How much pain and suffering you've caused us all? What, so you could go off and be a hero? You know what, Q? Fuck you." Her words were harsh, but she immediately followed them by pulling Quentin into her arms. "God, I missed you so, so much. Don't you ever do that to me again." She pulled back, looking him over. "How are you here, anyway?"

"Apparently Hades appreciated my sacrifice to get rid of the monsters who killed his wife. He owed me a favor."

"Well, thank Hades," she replied, pulling him back into a hug. "But I'm serious. I'm not letting you out of my sight for the rest of my life."

"Even for the bathroom?"

Julia considered this. "Maybe I'll make an exception for the bathroom." She laughed, and Quentin laughed with her. It was so nice to be back with her, just the two of them, like before. He hoped to have a lot more moments like this in the future.

"I was actually hoping you'll make a couple more exceptions," he told her. "There are still a few more people I need to see."

She stepped away, though hesitantly. "Of course. Everyone else is back at the cottage. I'll walk there with you."

 

Every second that passed on their trip back to Brakebills caused Quentin's heart to beat slightly faster. Julia had informed him that a week had passed since the incident in the Mirror World. A whole week of everyone believing he was dead. A whole week of him being dead. It was too much to wrap his head around. It would be even harder for everyone else. He thought about Alice buried in a pile of books, trying to find something to bring him back. His stomach twisted at the thought of her. He knew that it had been a mistake to get back together with her. He had been lonely, and they had so much history together. And Eliot...

"We could make it work," he had said. The last time Quentin had breached the idea of becoming something, Eliot had shut him down. It had been devastating to him, but he loved Eliot, in whatever form he was allowed to. The idea that, just maybe, Eliot felt the same way about him...

"I can't do this," Quentin said, stopping just short of the cottage. Julia shot him a confused look. "I've been dead for a week, what's a few more days?"

Julia grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the door. "What are you talking about? Everybody is going to be so psyched to see you. Especially Eliot." Quentin looked away, and Julia raised her eyebrows. 'Oh, so that's what this is about."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Quentin muttered. he had never told Julia about his feelings for Eliot. He hated how smart she was sometimes.

Julia's face softened. "I haven't seen Eliot much in the last week, between his injuries and my...research. But Kady keeps telling me how he won't stop talking about you. He's not doing well, Q. He needs to know that you're alive. He blames himself for what happened to you."

Quentin snapped his head up. "What? That's ridiculous. It was my choice."

"He says that if he hadn't shot the Monster in the castle, then none of this would have happened. Including what you did to stop them."

"It's not his fault," Quentin insisted.

"Then tell him that." She gestured at the door. Quentin took a deep breath and opened it.

Everything looked exactly the same as when he had last seen it. He didn't know why, but he expected some dramatic change in appearance. There was, however, something strangely comforting about the fact that nothing had changed. Maybe things weren't so abnormal after all.

Kady was sitting on the couch, reading some book. When the door closed behind them, she looked up indifferently. Once she saw who exactly had walked through the door, she jumped up, the book completely forgotten about. "Quentin?" she asked, slightly unsure.

Julia nodded, a small smile on her face. "I know. It's really him."

"Holy shit," Kady said, moving closer. She looked at him intensely, then poked him a few times. "You're really real, aren't you?"

"I really am," Quentin told her. "I, uh, actually have something to tell you. About Penny."

Kady's whole demeanor changed and Quentin could see the person she had been when she was around Penny, the soft and vulnerable side. It felt like he was walking in on something he shouldn't be seeing. "You saw him? What did he say?"

"I'll leave you two alone," Julia said, moving towards the stairs.

Quentin and Kady sat down on the couch, Kady leaning toward him with her full attention. Quentin sighed, trying to remember word-for-word what Penny had told him. "He says he misses you and he's proud of you. And that-that you don't need him to be whole, but you will find someone who loves you just as much as he does."

Kady put her hands over her mouth, stifling a sob. Then she took a deep breath and nodded. "Thank you. I'm glad you're back. We all really missed you. Including me. More than I thought I would."

"Thanks," Quentin said, standing up. He was just about to climb the stairs when he heard Kady cough behind him and turned back around.

Kady was looking directly at him, but she played nervously with her hands. "Did he seem happy?"

Quentin wasn't sure he'd ever seen Penny "happy," but he knew what Kady needed to hear. "Yes. Penny seemed happy."

Kady nodded again. "Thank you, Quentin." She paused, then added, "Eliot's in his room."

Quentin's heart skipped a beat, but he nodded back and hurried up the stairs. As soon as he reached the top, he was grabbed and pulled into a nearby bedroom. Then he was hugging Alice, and she was nearly strangling him with the tightness of her grip.

"Julia told me you were back, but I didn't believe her. This can't be real. Is it?" She pulled back to look at his face. "How are you here? You were dead. I saw you die."

"Yeah. Sorry about that," he muttered. "I'm back now. That's all that matters."

"You're right. That's all that matters. But seeing you die, God, Q, that was stupid." She paused, looking away. "And so was that kiss."

Quentin looked at her in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"We were in love, Q. Were. I want to be a part of your life, and I want you in mine, but this isn't the way we are meant to be. Not anymore. I'm sorry."

"No," Quentin said. 'Don't be. I was thinking the same thing. I rushed into a relationship with you because I just...nothing in my life was happening in a way that I could control, and being with you seemed like the one thing I thought I could. I shouldn't have led you on like that. I'm sorry."

Alice smiled at him. "So, friends?"

Quentin smiled back. "Definitely."

"Besides," Alice began, "I was never going to win in a competition with Eliot."

Quentin sputtered. "Does everyone know about that?"

"I didn't at the time," she admitted. "But I heard him telling Margo about you wanting a relationship, and him turning you down. But he regrets it, you know. You deserve to be happy. You both do. I hope it works out."

"Thanks," he replied nervously. "I hope things work out for you, too."

"Oh they will," she said. "I'm working on being a better person."

"Good luck with that."

"Good luck with Eliot." She smiled and gave him one last, quick hug. "Go get him, Q."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so gonna reunite Queliot in this chapter, but once I got passed the others I realized Eliot deserved his own chapter. I will get right on to writing that ASAP. I need it to be perfect. They deserve that.
> 
> Thank you for reading this far and feel free to let me know what you think!


	3. You're Late

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What we all needed and never got.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The moment you've all been waiting for! This took a bit longer than expected to write. I had to do some research for some parts, which involved a lot of rewatching 4x05, and that was painful considering the writers just threw that in our faces and then dropped it. Well, I undropped it. Hope you enjoy! (And that my suffering was worth it.)

Quentin paused outside the door to Eliot's bedroom. He reached for the doorknob but hesitated before turning it. He had been waiting for this moment for so long. The last time he had seen Eliot, he had been bleeding out in a forest in Fillory. The time before that, they were in such a rush to bring magic back that they hadn't really gotten to talk. Come to think of it, the last they had really talked, just the two of them, was when Eliot had told them they wouldn't work in this world and to go have an adventure with someone else. This didn't help settle his nerves.

Finally, after praying to whatever god out there who would take pity on him, he turned the knob and opened the door.

There he was. He was facing away from the door, sitting on his bed, talking to Margo. He wore a full black suit, and Quentin's stomach turned at the realization that he was wearing black because of him.

"You need some fresh air, El," Margo told him. "It's good for you."

"I'm fine," Eliot told her. The sound of his voice, his, not the Monster's, made Quentin's legs shaky. "I grew up on a farm, Bambi. I've had enough fresh air to fill a lifetime."

"El," she began but stopped short when she looked up to see Quentin standing in the doorway. "No fucking way." Similarly to Julia, but this time not entirely unexpected, Margo walked over to him and slapped him. "You piece of shit. You're gonna come crawling back here after what you did? You couldn't even say goodbye? Do you know what you fucking did? A shitty thing is what you did. Leaving me alone to take care of El while you got to live your afterlife like some kind of hero? Bullshit. Go to hell, Quentin. Or, should I say, go back to hell." She stormed out of the room, leaving Quentin frozen in shock. Not everyone was willing to give him a happy welcome back party it appeared.

He realized then that he was alone with Eliot, who at this point had turned his head to see what the commotion was about. He stared at Quentin, speechless, before slowly and shakily raising himself to his feet. "Quentin Coldwater," he said slowly. "You're late."

Quentin laughed, letting out all the tears he had been holding back this entire time. It was the first thing Eliot had ever said to him, back before he had even taken the test to get into Brakebills. It was a much simpler time, before the Library and the Monster and even the Beast. Before the time they had spent together, both at Brakebills and the Fillory past. He realized then that he wouldn't trade it away for anything. "Eliot," he whispered. There were so many things he wanted to say. He didn't know where to start.

"You're alive," Eliot said, a small smile appearing on his face.

"So are you," Quentin pointed out.

"That would be correct." He grabbed a cane that was leaning against his bed and slowly made his way over to Quentin. He let his free hand hover in the space between them before using it to brush Quentin's hair back behind his ear. It was such a simple movement, one Eliot had done countless times before, but this time felt different. It was like a bolt of lightning was rushing out of Eliot's hand and into him.

"I just-" Quentin began, right as Eliot said, "Look I-" They both paused, laughing softly. "If you wouldn't mind," Eliot said, "I would like to go first. There is a lot I wanted to say when I was trapped inside the Monster."

"Go ahead."

Eliot took a deep breath. "In order to get control over my body enough to tell you that I was still alive, I had to go through my most traumatic memories. When I killed my bully, when I became the bully, this God-awful haircut from 2005." Quentin laughed at that. God, he had missed him. "But the most traumatic moment, the thing that I regret the most, is when I told you that we wouldn't work in this world. That was bullshit. I knew it then, and I know it now. I was afraid, so I pushed you away. I've never been all that great at relationships. You were too important to me. I couldn't lose you." He paused. "And then I lost you anyway."

Quentin took Eliot's face in his hands. "You didn't lose me. I'm right here. What happened wasn't your fault, okay? I made a choice and-"

"It was a stupid choice," Eliot interrupted. Quentin raised his eyebrows. "Sorry," Eliot muttered. "Just...when have we not figured things out? We've handled a lot. I'm sure a juiced up Garrett would've been nothing. And even if it had been...difficult, we would've been together. That's all that matters."

"I'm sorry. Won't happen again."

Eliot smiled. "It better not. Cuz I don't know what I'd do if I never got to do this again." He tossed his cane to the side and grabbed Quentin with both his hands, kissing him like the world was gonna end and maybe it was but none of that mattered because Eliot was here and he was kissing him. Fuck everything else.

That is, until Eliot pulled back, a look of pain on his face. "Are you okay?" Quentin asked, suddenly worried.

"Yeah," Eliot said. "Just maybe dramatically throwing my cane wasn't the best idea considering I need it to stand." Quentin realized then that Eliot was using him for support and quickly helped him back over to his bed. Eliot gasped with relief, then laughed. "It was worth it."

"Yeah," Quentin said with a laugh. "Maybe we should just take things slow. At least until you get better."

"I suppose. But just you wait, Coldwater. Cuz when I get better-"

The door opened suddenly and Margo barged in. "I'm gonna have to cut this short," she said.

"Margo," Eliot began slowly. "Were you listening to this entire conversation from behind the door?"

"Of course not," she replied, but the smirk on her face told otherwise. "I just think it's unfair that you're monopolizing Quentin. I mean, he's been dead for a week. We wanna see him."

"Weren.'t you just really mad at me?" Quentin asked.

"So a girl can't change her opinion every now and then?"

Quentin just stared up at her until Eliot squeezed his hand. "She's right, Q. Everyone wants a slice of Coldwater pie. Why wouldn't they? We'll have plenty of time to...catch up...later."

"Great," Margo said, a pleased smirk on her face. "Now let's fucking party!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While trying to find a song to get me in the mood for writing, I discovered the absolute perfect Queliot song. It's Life Afer You by Daughtry. Listening to it was a mini Try Not to Cry game that I lost big time.

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to write more in this story, but I have been struggling to write something more so I will leave it here. Hopefully, I will feel more inspired to write this summer because I would really like to write more Queliot and more finale rewrites. Hope you enjoyed and let me know if there's anything specific you'd like to read to help me get the motivation to write!


End file.
